Occasional runny poop?? Any Ideas??


  • Hello- I have a question about diegos poop. every couple days he has loose/soft poop- like one day it will be normal/hard and then it will be loose and runny. He is on canidae all life stages mixed with merrick wet food (he is very picky eater and wont eat dry alone). He has been on this mix for at least 3-4 months. He's about out of Canidae ALS so i got Canidae Lamb and Rice this time. But if anyone has any ideas/suggestions on why this is happening please respond!! thank you!!


  • Has he had a full Vet work up to rule out anything and everything? Checked for worms?… I have 4 seniors on Canidae and have for over 7 yrs... and they do just fine with no problems... I mix the kibble with lots of different things and very rarely problems with soft or runny poop


  • he's been to the vet recently for some shots and i mentioned the problem. the vet did a little physical thing and said he was fine. he also had some blood work sent to the lab a couple months ago everything came back normal, along with a stool sample. should i take him to the vet or take in a stool sample for the occasional runny poop??


  • I would definately have a fecal exam done. It could be worms or a protozoan problem such as giardia or coccidia. If the fecal comes back clear then you may want to give him a teaspoon of plain yogurt once or twice a day. This will help balance the bacterias (good and bad) in the dog's stomach.


  • I will take in a stool sample today. As for the yougart, he is on prozyme, which provides digestive enzymes. So should I still add the yougart or should the prozyme be sufficient?


  • Even the change from Canidae to Lamb and rice Canidae could be the problem, as it is different food… and many dogs do not do well with Lamb, contrary to popular myths...

    And about the "picky" eater... believe me, if he is hungry he will eat...

    Is there a reason you have him on the Prozyme?


  • He actually hasn't started the lamb and rice yet.. I have him on prozyme because he had runny poops a couple weeks ago (he was at the vet and i told him but he didnt suggest anything) and i read about adding digestive enzymes to the food.. from the research i did on prozyme it sounded like it would help absorb the nutrients in the food, and even if it didnt help the runny poop i thought it would be good to add to the canidae.. is there a reason he shouldnt be on prozyme?


  • and about being hungry and eating.. about 6-8 months ago he was on dry food only, and he would go like 2 days without eating.. so i would give in and starting mixing wet food in..


  • @DiegosMom:

    and about being hungry and eating.. about 6-8 months ago he was on dry food only, and he would go like 2 days without eating.. so i would give in and starting mixing wet food in..

    Merricks dry makes a gravy when you get it wet. They LOVE it! I have a huge dog food bin and mix both dry foods together - 3 parts Canidae and 1 part Merricks dry (3:1) Add a little tap water in their food bowls, mix a bit to get the juices from the dry and they chow it down! Merricks wet is wonderful, but I've found wetting the dry is easier with the same results. They eat and deliver healthy, solid poop! :o


  • @DiegosMom:

    He actually hasn't started the lamb and rice yet.. I have him on prozyme because he had runny poops a couple weeks ago (he was at the vet and i told him but he didnt suggest anything) and i read about adding digestive enzymes to the food.. from the research i did on prozyme it sounded like it would help absorb the nutrients in the food, and even if it didnt help the runny poop i thought it would be good to add to the canidae.. is there a reason he shouldnt be on prozyme?

    No, no reason, I was just wondering why you had him on it… Is this something that he has just started (the runny poop) or been going on awhile? Can you relate it to starting a new bag of food? (not new kind of food just a new bag of what you usually feed?)


  • well it was runny weeks ago, thats when we went to the vet, and now its starting up again. same exact bag of food to answer your question.. the stool sample is at the vets right now.. i have to call in 15 minutes to get the results.. thanks for everyones help!


  • stool sample was negative..


  • @DiegosMom:

    well it was runny weeks ago, thats when we went to the vet, and now its starting up again. same exact bag of food to answer your question.. the stool sample is at the vets right now.. i have to call in 15 minutes to get the results.. thanks for everyones help!

    What size bag do you ususally buy? Reason that I ask is sometimes one bag of food could be "off"… the food that is naturally preserved can either be a bit bad to begin with or go off after opened. I have had this happen over the years off and on with all different kinds of food. Usually when this happens I get a new bag and see it the problem resolves itself and if it does it would be just about immediate.

    Could be too that your boy has food allergies... or if Giarida (spelling) regardless of the stool sample can still be present. You could try taking him off dog food totally and feeding boiled ground turkey and brown rice. Boil the turkey in water and drain and mix with rice (you can add garlic powder for some flavor) and see if this makes a difference

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